The Local Artists from the Competition (from left to right: Virginia Arakelian, Claudio Cardoso, Dominic DaSylva, Ruth Bowen, and Bonnie Sprung)

Baterbys hosted a Local Artist Competition this past Friday to give one talented artist in the Winter Park/Orlando area the opportunity to display their artwork in the gallery! We had quite a successful turnout with over 150 guests attending and placing votes for their favorite artist. We were very lucky to have 5 amazing artists in the competition that day, including: Bonnie Sprung, Claudio Cardoso, Dominic DaSylva, Ruth Bowen and Virginia Arakelian. As we noticed during the event, the artists in Orlando are all very close and supportive of each other. A few of our competitors already knew one another; and when their fellow artist friends would visit they would have a hard time deciding who to vote for because they knew more than one person in the competition!

The Top 3 Finalists (From left to right: Virginia Arakelian, Bonnie Sprung, and Ruth Bowen)

After 8 long hours of open voting time, we were finally ready to count the votes and announce the winners. In third place, with her beautiful landscapes and seascapes, Ruth Bowen! In second place, with her bright, fun, and hidden word series palm trees, Bonnie Sprung! In first place, with her eclectic, vibrant, and colorful pieces, Virginia Arakelian! Claudio and Dominic put up a great fight with their incredible collections! Claudio paints striking, large, abstract pieces; while Dominic creates colorful, detailed collages of famous characters from history and pop culture.

Virginia Standing Next to Her Winning Artwork!

Virginia will be featured in the gallery until July 21st. Her pieces are very unique, and definitely deserve a special trip to the gallery to see before they are gone! She offers us a look into her culture and creative mind with the use of acrylics and mixed-media pieces made from metal and wood. We will be writing a blog post next week about Virginia so you can get a better idea of who she is as an artist, and a person. To see more pictures from the event, and have a closer look at all of the artist’s works, view our album or visit our Facebook page.

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